Pressure-fill valve construction



Aug. 11, 1964 w. R. ODONNELL PRESSURE-FILL VALVE CONSTRUCTION mmvroa William R. O'Donnell United States Patent 3,144,057 PRESSURE-FILL VALVE CONSTRUCTION William R. ODonnell, Trumbull, Conm, assiguor t0 Valve Corporation of America, Bridgeport, Conn, a corporation of Delaware Filed June 5, 1962, Ser. No. 200,090 1 Claim. (Cl. 141-354) This invention relates to small pressurized, fluid supply devices, and more particularly to pressure-fill valve constructions thereof.

An object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved pressure-fill valve construction of the kind indicated, which involves very few components yet is entirely effective in transferring pressurized fluid from a supply container to the article requiring filling.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved valve construction as above characterized, wherein inadvertent or undesired leakage of the pressurized fluid is effectively prevented both during use and during non-use of the device.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel pressure-fill valve construction in accordance with the foregoing, which is simple and economical to manufacture and produce.

A feature of the invention resides in the provision of an improved pressure-fill valve construction as above set forth, which is easy to operate and reliable in use, even over an extended period of time.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the drawings accompanying this specification, similar characters of reference have been used to designate like components throughout the several views, in which:

FIGURE 1 is an axial sectional view of an improved pressure-fill valve construction as provided by the invention, carried by a container. The valve is shown in closed position.

FIG. 2 is an axial sectional view similar to that of FIG. 1, but showing the valve and container in inverted position with the valve open or depressed by cooperable elements of an article which is to be filled with the pressurized substance (as for example a pyrophoric cigarette lighter).

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view, taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a top plan View of a spring retainer washer employed in the construction of FIGS. 1 and 2.

As shown, the improved valve construction of the invention is carried by a metal mounting cup 10 which closes the open end of a container 12 in the well known manner. The mounting cup 10 has a raised central portion 14 provided with an apertured top wall 16 in which there is carried the valve assemblage, designated generally by the numeral 18.

The assemblage 18 includes a tubular valve housing 20 which may be advantageously molded of plastic substance, said housing having a main or body portion 22 provided at its lower end with a mounting flange portion 24, both of which portions closely fit the cooperable surfaces of the mounting cup 10. Upstanding from the body portion 22 is a tubular filling nozzle portion 26, and depending from the mounting flange 20 is an annular or circular retainer shoulder 28.

A sealing washer is disposed between the mounting flange 28 and the top wall 16 of the cup 10, and the raised central portion 14 of the latter is provided with an inwardly spun or indented section 32 which engages and holds captive the flange 24, securely affixing the valve assemblage 18 to the mounting cup 10 in sealed relation therewith.

As seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the outer extremity of the filling nozzle portion 26 is provided with guide means in 3,144,057 Patented Aug. 11, 1964 the form of a conically hollow end 36 which communicates with smaller and larger bores 38 and 40 provided in the nozzle portion. Also, the valve housing 20 has a still larger bore 42 in the body portion 22, as shown.

Longitudinally slidable in the housing 20 is a valve stem 44 having a valve enlargement 46 disposed intermediate end portions 48 and 50 of smaller diameter. The end portion 48 is longer than the opposite end 50 and of smaller diameter than the latter, and has a loose sliding fit in the bore 40 to provide clearance for the passage of fluid through the bore. Further, the end portion 48 has a longitudinal groove 54 serving this purpose also, whereby an adequate fluid passage is provided past the valve stem 44 when the latter is in its open or unsealing position. Such position is indicated in FIG. 2, whereas the closed or sealing position of the valve is shown in FIG. 1.

Within the valve housing 20 there is provided a resilient gasket or valve seat 56 for engagement by the valve enlargement 46 of the stem, to effect a secure closure and seal when the stem is in the raised or closed position of FIG. 1. The valve stem 44 is biased to such raised position by a helical coil spring 58 engaging at one end the enlargement 46 and at its other end a retainer disk or washer 6'9, which latter is aflixed to the lower end of the valve housing 26 within the depending flange or shoulder 28. The spring retainer disk or washer 60 has a central opening 62 through which the pressurized fluid from the container 12 may pass into the large bore 42. As shown, the valve enlargement 46 is of smaller diameter than the bore 42 whereby clearance is had around the enlargement to permit the passage of pressurized fluid to the smaller stem portion 48.

It will now be understood, as shown in FIG. 2, that when the valve stem 44 is shifted to the raised position as shown in this figure, the pressurized fluid from the container 12 may pass downward past the valve stem and through the bore 40 of the nozzle portion to the exterior.

The depressing or shifting of the valve stem 44 may be effected in various ways, that illustrated in FIG. 2 comprising a slender pin or prong located in a recess or well located in a tubular wall formation 72 of the cigar lighter casing 74. The prong 70 is rigidly afiixed in the well 71 in such a manner that passages are had to the interior of the casing 74, preferably under the control of a suitable check valve. The check valve may comprise a resilient movable valve disk '78 backed up by rigid disk which in turn is engaged by a helical coil spring 82.

In accordance with the invention, the spring-retainer washer 66 (see FIG. 4) is provided with surface irregularities, preferably in the form of a plurality of radially extending ribs 66 on both of its sides. The ribs 66 on the inner side of the spring-retainer washer 60 are engaged by the end of the valve return spring 58, and positively insure against the valve stem end portion 50 effecting any closure of the central opening 62 in the disk 60 in the event that the stem 44 is fully recessed to the maximum extent. Such depression would merely cause engagement between the ribs 66 and the end of the valve stem, and clearance space would still exist between such end and the remainder of the retainer washer 60, to provide for passage of the pressurized fluid.

The spring retainer washer 60 may be aflixed to the valve housing 20 in any suitable manner, as by a pressfit operation, or else by cementing it in place, etc.

With the above organization, when the filling nozzle portion 26 of the valve construction of the container 12 is not inserted in the well 71, the check valve 78 will be in a closed position (not shown), as will be readily understood. However, upon insertion of the pressurefill valve construction, specifically the nozzle 26 thereof in the well 71 of the cigarette lighter, the prong 70 will depressor shift inward the valve stem 44 of the filling valve. The pressurized contents of the container will then be transferred through the valve housing 18 into the cigarette lighter casing 74, the pressure of the fluid ,forcing open the check valve '78, all as illustrated in FIG. 2.

Upon the cigarette lighter casing 74 becoming filled with the liquid butane, the pressure-fill device is removed whereby the check valve 78 will again close, retaining the filled butane in the casing 74. Simultaneously, the valve stem 44 will be shifted again to the closed position by the spring 58, preventing loss of the supply from the container 12.

It will now be seen from the foregoing that I have provided a novel and improved pressure-fill valve construction which is characterized by the utmost simplicity. Relatively few parts are involved, such parts being easily and economically fabricated and assembled. The valve assembly effectively seals the passage through the valve housing 18, preventing leakage of the contents of the container 12 at all times. However, when it is desired to dispense the contents of the container 12, the pressurefill valve becomes immediately operative to pass the pressurized fluid through the housing, by the simple act of shifting the valve stem 44 longitudinally from the FIG. 1 position to the FIG. 2 position. The valve construction is reliable in its operation at all times, being devoid of complicated structures which might result in malfunctioning.

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of the claim, and portions of the improvement may be used without others.

I claim:

In a pressure-fill valve construction, in combination:

(a) a mounting cup having a raised, inverted cup-like center portion provided with a central aperture,

(b) a tubular valve housing extending through and carried by said center portion of the mounting cup and having at one end a filling nozzle portion provided with a bore which is exposed at the end of the nozzle portion,

() said valve housing having below its nozzle portion an elongate body portion of larger diameter, a lower half of said body portion being wholly contained in the inverted cup-like center portion of the mounting cup and the upper half ,of said body portion extending above the cup-like center portion,

(d) a longitudinally movable valve stem having its outer end slidably bearing in said nozzle portion and having a longitudinal groove in said outer end to provide for passage of fluid past the stem and in said bore,

(e) the remainder of said valve stem being disposed in and movable in said housing body portion,

(1) cooperable valve means in the housing body por tion and on an intermediate portion of said stem, said valve means being adjacent the said nozzle portion, closing the passage through the housing for one position of the stem and opening said passage for another position of the stem,

(g) spring means within the valve housing, biasing the valve stem to the said one position,

(h) a substantially flat spring stop washer constituted as a piece separate from the valve housing, secured across the other end of the valve housing and en gaged with one end of the spring means, a center portion of said washer which borders the center opening being engageable by the inner end of the valve stem when the latter is in its other, open position, and having on its surface substantially radial ribs preventing the stem from closing its center opening when engaged thereby,

(i) said washer being located wholly within the confines of the inverted, cup-like center portion of the mounting cup, and

(j) guide means on the said nozzle portion, engageable with a prong on a device to be pressure filled, to guide the prong into engagement with the other end of the valve stem for the purpose of shifting the latter to its other, open position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,769,325 Storch Nov. 6, 1956 2,975,944 Michel Mar. 21, 1961 2,989,091 Lowenthal June 20, 1961 3,035,617 Breitenstein May 22, 1962 3,081,916 Rhodes et a1 Mar. 19, 1963 

